Classic Vols Highlights: 1998 Tennessee vs. Florida

Above is a music video created by WBIR in 1998 after the Vols beat Florida on their way to eventually winning the national championship.

Here's the AP game story from Tennessee's 20-17 victory:

KNOXVILLE, Tenn., Sept. 19 (Associated Press)— They had waited a long time to tear their goal posts down. Six years. But after four quarters of helmet-rattling football and 10 overtime plays, Tennessee exorcised the demons of Florida, outlasting the Gators by 20-17 to snap a five-year losing streak.

When Florida kicker Collins Cooper sent a 32-yard attempt wide left, a sea of orange swept the field and snapped the goal posts down in seconds. Then a Tennessee record crowd of 107,653 at Neyland Stadium belted out a full-throated rendition of ''Rocky Top.''

Cooper's missed field-goal attempt capped a hard-nosed battle between the No. 6 Vols and the No. 2 Gators that came down to their kickers. Florida had won the overtime coin toss, but elected to defend first. The Gators were counting on their defense to maintain its dominance of Tennessee -- the Volunteers had only 235 total yards -- and that their offense could score a touchdown.

They were half right. Tennessee quarterback Tee Martin, trying to do what Peyton Manning could not, threw two incompletions, and a penalty backed the Vols up to the 37-yard line. But on third-and-3, Martin scrambled out of the pocket and to the center of the field for a 14-yard gain.

Close enough for the senior kicker Jeff Hall, who beat Syracuse with a late field goal, to get Tennessee on the overtime board. His 41-yard kick was dead center.

The Gators took the ball at the 20-yard line. Coach Steve Spurrier stuck with the tandem quarterback attack of Jess Palmer and Doug Johnson, who had alternated plays for the entire game. But neither Palmer, a sophomore who was 16 of 23 for 210 yards and 2 touchdowns, nor Johnson, who was 15 of 26 for 199 yards, could find a Gator receiver when they needed one.

In a sloppy first half, the Gators did not look like they had a high-flying offense or the nation's best defense. They lost three fumbles, which gave them nine for the year -- one more than they had all of last season. Fortunately for Florida, only one fumble led to Tennessee points, a 39-yard field goal by Hall that gave the Volunteers a 10-3 lead.

Palmer and Johnson, had a combined 216 passing yards in the first half y against a relentless Volunteers pass rush that produced two sacks.

In the closing minutes of the half, Palmer and Johnson commanded a 10-play, 67-yard drive. Palmer passed to Travis McGriff for an 18-yard gain on third-and-1, and three plays later, facing third-and-22, Johnson found Naris Karim open on the left sideline for 23 yards to the Tennessee 31.

It was Palmer, on second-and-goal from the 8-yard line, who passed to Travis Taylor in the front of the end zone for the Gators' first touchdown. When Collins Cooper converted the extra point, Florida went into the locker room with a 10-10 tie.

Florida continued to have trouble holding the ball in the second half, losing another fumble and watching Tennessee safety Deon Grant make an acrobatic one-handed interception in the fourth quarter that gave the Vols the ball at midfield. But every time the crowd believed that the Volunteers had trumped the Gators and the five-year losing streak was about to snap, Florida answered back.

With 8 minutes 25 seconds left in the third quarter and Tennessee on Florida's 29-yard line, Peerless Price put a paralyzing stop-and-go move on cornerback Dock Pollard, got behind him, then went high in the air to catch a floater from Martin in the right corner of the end zone. Suddenly, the Volunteers were up, 17-10, and the sea of orange raised its deafening roar louder.

But barely two minutes later, the crowd was quieted. On third-and-11 from Florida's 30-yard line, Palmer passed to McGriff, who never had to break stride and raced along the left sideline 70 yards for a touchdown. The freshman Jeff Chandler made the extra point, and it was 17-17.

The game opened much like Florida's five previous victories over Tennessee, with the Gators threatening quick scores on their first two drives. In those games, Florida put a combined 52 points on the board in the first quarter to Tennessee's 18. But the Gators wasted a 10-play drive when Terry Jackson fumbled on the goal line. The Tennessee senior linebacker Al Wilson jarred the ball loose -- the first of three fumbles he caused -- and Raynoch Thompson gathered it in the end zone.

The Gators were a shoe-top tackle away from a touchdown on their second drive when Palmer faked a reverse and found tailback Robert Gillespie circling from the backfield and wide open in the flat. The freshman ran 36 yards and looked to have the angle to the corner, but he instead cut back to the middle of the field and was tripped up at the 3-yard line. The Volunteers defense held, and Florida settled for a 21-yard field goal.

The Florida defense, led by linebackers Jevon Kearse and Johnny Rutledge, came into the game giving up an average of 50 yards rushing. But after the kickoff, they gave up that many in the next two plays. Jamal Lewis popped through the middle for 7 yards and looked like he would go farther, but he stumbled and fell on his 43.

It did not matter. On the next play, fullback Shawn Bryson ran 57 yards up the middle for a touchdown. Hall converted the point after, and Tennessee led, 7-3.